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Playoff Race: March 25

by
Mark Stepneski
/ Dallas Stars

What did we learn Thursday night? There are no easy games in the NHL. No matter where teams sit in the standings, it can be tough to win in the NHL. Teams out of the playoff picture don’t roll over this time of the year, especially against top teams.

The Coyotes beat the Stars. The Jets beat the Kings. The Maple Leafs beat the Ducks. The Oilers beat the Sharks. It’s a tough league.

For the Stars, it was a missed opportunity to extend their lead in the Central Division. Their lead over second-place St. Louis remains at two points. The Blues host Vancouver tonight with a chance to tie the Stars at 97 points. It’s no given for the Blues. They lost to both Edmonton and Calgary on the road last week. The Canucks played last night in Nashville but are 5-3-2 in the second night of back-to-backs.

Even if the Blues win, the Stars would still hold first place in the Central Division based on the regulation wins (ROW) tiebreaker, which they lead 42-38.

Chicago remains six points behind the Stars. The Blackhawks are idle Friday. They have a back-to-back on the road at Calgary (Saturday) and Vancouver (Sunday).

Nashville pulled to within two points of Chicago for third place in the Central, rallying to beat Vancouver, 3-2, in a shootout last night. Nashville was down 2-0 after two periods, but scored twice in a 1:12 span of the third to tie and get the game to extra playing time. The Predators are 13-2-5 in their past 20 games.

Minnesota extended its lead to three points over Colorado in the race for the second wild-card spot in the West. The Wild blew by the Flames, 6-2, in St. Paul for their fourth straight win. Colorado, meanwhile, had a three-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to Philadelphia in Denver. The Wild and Avalanche play Saturday in Denver. That’s a big game.

It wasn’t a good night for the big three in the Pacific Division. The Kings wrapped up a 0-3-0 road trip with a 4-1 loss at Winnipeg. Los Angeles remains four points behind the Stars for the best record in the West.

The Ducks lost in a wild 6-5 shootout at Toronto. Anaheim rallied from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead, gave up the game-tying goal with less than five minutes left and then lost in the skills competition. The Ducks did clinch a playoff spot with the one point and moved to within three points of the Kings.

The Sharks, who are the Stars’ next opponent, had a chance to move to within three points of the Kings and tie the Ducks, but they lost, 6-3, to Edmonton in San Jose. So, they are still five points behind Los Angeles and two points behind Anaheim.

Arizona 3, Dallas 1

Nashville 3, Vancouver 2 (SO)

Minnesota 6, Calgary 2

Philadelphia 4, Colorado 2

Winnipeg 4, Los Angeles 1

Toronto 6, Anaheim 5 (SO)

Edmonton 6, San Jose 3

Vancouver at St. Louis

Dallas

Los Angeles

Anaheim

CENTRAL DIVISION

PACIFIC DIVISION

WILDCARD

IN HUNT

1st

2nd

3rd

1st

2nd

3rd

WC1

WC2

DAL

STL

CHI

LAK

ANA

SJS

NSH

MIN

COL

Points

97

95

91

93

90

88

89

83

80

Wins (ROW)

42

38

41

42

37

38

34

33

34

Games Left

7

8

8

8

9

8

8

7

8

Home

4

5

3

5

4

5

5

4

4

Road

3

3

5

3

5

3

3

3

4

DAL

STL

CHI

LAK

ANA

SJS

NSH

MIN

COL

Mar. 25

-

VAN

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Mar. 26

@SJS

@WSH

@CGY

EDM

@OTT

DAL

CBJ

@COL

MIN

Mar. 27

-

-

@VAN

-

-

-

-

-

-

Mar. 28

-

-

-

@SJS

@EDM

LAK

COL

-

@NSH

Mar. 29

NSH

COL

@MIN

-

-

@VAN

@DAL

CHI

@STL

Mar. 30

-

-

-

-

CGY

-

-

-

-

Mar. 31

ARI

-

-

CGY

-

VAN

@PIT

OTT

-

Apr. 1

-

BOS

@WPG

-

VAN

-

-

@DET

WSH

Apr. 2

@LAK

-

-

-

-

@NSH

SJS

-

-

Apr. 3

@ANA

@COL

BOS

-

DAL

-

-

@WPG

STL

Apr. 4

-

ARI

-

@VAN

-

-

-

-

-

Apr. 5

-

-

ARI

@CGY

WPG

@MIN

COL

SJS

@NSH

Apr. 6

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Apr. 7

COL

@CHI

STL

ANA

@LAK

WPG

ARI

-

@DAL

Apr. 8

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Apr. 9

NSH

WSH

@CBJ

WPG

@COL

ARI

@DAL

CGY

ANA

Apr. 10

-

-

-

-

@WSH

-

-

-

-

DAL

STL

CHI

LAK

ANA

SJS

NSH

MIN

COL

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club. Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter@StarsInsideEdge.